TC in St. Louis Posted December 9, 2015 Share Posted December 9, 2015 The defense was so much better last year. That's the difference. We had over 50 sacks, and were pretty frightening. This year, we seem to be playing dipsy doodle out there, and aren't sacking anybody. We beat the NFC Central last year. We beat the Packers. This year we lost to Jacksonville. WTH. Whatever magic Rex has brought to the defense has not worked whatsoever. He said we'd have the best defense in the league. We were 4th last year. We are in the bottom half this year. Our offense is slightly better. Our defense is substantially worse. We're lucky to be alive in this race. I don't think the athletes are the problem. I'm certain it's the lousy coaching. Rex thinks he's the king, but he has a lot to learn. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Turk Posted December 9, 2015 Share Posted December 9, 2015 The defense was so much better last year. That's the difference. We had over 50 sacks, and were pretty frightening. This year, we seem to be playing dipsy doodle out there, and aren't sacking anybody. We beat the NFC Central last year. We beat the Packers. This year we lost to Jacksonville. WTH. Whatever magic Rex has brought to the defense has not worked whatsoever. He said we'd have the best defense in the league. We were 4th last year. We are in the bottom half this year. Our offense is slightly better. Our defense is substantially worse. We're lucky to be alive in this race. I don't think the athletes are the problem. I'm certain it's the lousy coaching. Rex thinks he's the king, but he has a lot to learn. The offense is MUCH better than last year. Bills were held under 20 points 8 times last year(half their games), and scored more than 25 points only 4 times. This year, they have been held under 20 points only 3 times and scored over 25 points 6 times already... I don't care about yards, I care about points. You don't get wins by getting more yards than the other team, you get wins by getting more points than the other team, although we also are averaging more than 30 yards a game above last years totals on yards as well... the only issue is the defense has regressed just as much as the offense has improved, which leads us to a net gain of near zero...very disappointing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DDD Posted December 9, 2015 Share Posted December 9, 2015 The offense is definitely better. Tyrod Taylor is much better than any of us thought he would be. The defense is definitely worse. Don't forget Aaron and Kyle Williams have been out most of the season. That is a big loss. Plus, I think the LB's over-achieved last year too. Team disciple is definitely worse. It's reflected in a ridiculous amount of penalties . Marrone ran a tight, Ryan a loose one. Bottum line is Rex has had more talent on offense and less on defense due to injury. The schedule looks favorable to make the playoffs but the Bills are just an average team folks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Webster Guy Posted December 9, 2015 Share Posted December 9, 2015 The biggest difference I can see from the couch is that we don't play that Wide Nine scheme on the Dline this year. Mario and Hughes were way out on the ends and it forced the offensive tackles to rotate out more. In effect "bending" the line as Schwartz called it, so that there was more space in between the guards and the tackles on both sides. Dareus and Kyle took advantage of the gaps created by the wide nine, as they're both so good at that first step and slicing through the holes and disrupting. That to me seems to be the difference. Searcy and Spikes are gone, but we've added a stud corner in Darby who is playing at least as well as Leodis did last year. Gilmore even better. I can't help but think the Wide Nine would take better advantage of our front four, even with Kyle gone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr.Sack Posted December 9, 2015 Share Posted December 9, 2015 Defense is better IMO. Schematically our players are still learning the Ryan system. The system is working. We cut New England's point total in half. Tyrod has been a revelation. Put in Tyrod versus Cincy & Jax and we likely are 7-5 or 8-4. Thus this thread would not evem exist. If the Bills beat Philly things start to get real interesting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
firemedic Posted December 9, 2015 Share Posted December 9, 2015 Need last year's pressure........that is all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikemac2001 Posted December 9, 2015 Share Posted December 9, 2015 I think the lbs don't fit Rex's scheme And agree with wide nine post above Tackling has been lack luster all year 3 yard plays turn into 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prickly Pete Posted December 9, 2015 Share Posted December 9, 2015 (edited) The offense is definitely better. Tyrod Taylor is much better than any of us thought he would be. The defense is definitely worse. Don't forget Aaron and Kyle Williams have been out most of the season. That is a big loss. Plus, I think the LB's over-achieved last year too. Team disciple is definitely worse. It's reflected in a ridiculous amount of penalties . Marrone ran a tight, Ryan a loose one. Bottum line is Rex has had more talent on offense and less on defense due to injury. The schedule looks favorable to make the playoffs but the Bills are just an average team folks. The defense was under-performing even when all the guys were out there. Plus this season they have Darby. Every team has injuries. Injuries are not the reason for the drop off...it's Ryan. His NY Jets defense's were never sack machines, and he has always had problems with getting players to be disciplined. His "scheme" doesn't suit the players here. Edited December 9, 2015 by HoF Watkins Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bookie Man Posted December 9, 2015 Share Posted December 9, 2015 Agreed on LBs being overachievers last year. Rewatched the Houston game and paid close attention to Preston Brown every defensive snap. Seems to play kind of small. Gets bodied around and almost seems kind of a punk. Never thought of Preston as a dirty player, but sort of reminded me a little of Donte Whitner in demeanor. I'm thinking LB is top position in need of upgrade. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dragonborn10 Posted December 9, 2015 Share Posted December 9, 2015 The biggest difference I can see from the couch is that we don't play that Wide Nine scheme on the Dline this year. Mario and Hughes were way out on the ends and it forced the offensive tackles to rotate out more. In effect "bending" the line as Schwartz called it, so that there was more space in between the guards and the tackles on both sides. Dareus and Kyle took advantage of the gaps created by the wide nine, as they're both so good at that first step and slicing through the holes and disrupting. That to me seems to be the difference. Searcy and Spikes are gone, but we've added a stud corner in Darby who is playing at least as well as Leodis did last year. Gilmore even better. I can't help but think the Wide Nine would take better advantage of our front four, even with Kyle gone. Interesting comment. Because I saw quite a bit of this alignment especially with Mario Sunday. While Schwartz used this to free up Kyle and Dareus, Rex uses it to blitz safeties. It worked fairly well against the Texans. Especially late when they had to throw. OP, did you watch the Oakland game? While still in the playoff hunt the offense played as bad a game as they did in a decade. The offense is far far better this year. I don't even think it is because Hackett is gone. His schemes seem to get guys open. EJ and Orton just sucked at QB. I was an EJ guy but it is clear now that he may not even be a below average backup. TT is just a few half seconds, an extra pump, and an inch or two off target from being truly great. Even the line is better than last year. As bad as RG has been this year LG was much worse. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nihilarian Posted December 9, 2015 Share Posted December 9, 2015 Defense is better IMO. Schematically our players are still learning the Ryan system. The system is working. We cut New England's point total in half. Tyrod has been a revelation. Put in Tyrod versus Cincy & Jax and we likely are 7-5 or 8-4. Thus this thread would not evem exist. If the Bills beat Philly things start to get real interesting. The reason why the defense looked so good against the Patriots is because Ryan called more blitzes more often, and managed to get hurries on Tom Brady to the tune of 20 of his 40 drop backs! 50%! He hasn't blitzed that often against any other team all year. That, and the Patriots were missing key offensive weapons in RB Deion Lewis & WR Julian Edleman big time. The defense in being bad this season has nothing to do with the players still learning Rex Ryans scheme! What defense on earth is so complicated that veteran players can't grasp it or understand it by week thirteen? The very simple truth is Ryan is asking them to do things that doesn't fit what they do best. He has been running a passive cover, gap control scheme which a big departure from what he ran with the Jets! Plus, he isn't rotating the defensive line players as much as Schwartz did last year in keeping them fresh in the fourth quarter. Then he isn't blitzing nearly as much as he has done in the past with his jet teams, nor as much as Pettine or Schwartz did the last two years. Sacks go hand in hand with defensive hits, hurries, and pressure on the QB. This years scheme is currently 27th in hurries, 29th in sacks, 30th in sacks percentage. Ryan has three all pro D linemen from last year plus Jerry Hughes, and he is positioning them differently then Schwartz did, and utilizing them differently. The Bills are currently 20th in total defense, and 23rd against the pass. The current defense could be just as effective as it was last year in getting pressure on the QB should Ryan ever get his head out of his backside, and start utilizing his players like he did in the past. And guys, the offense is far better because of better play on the line by LG Richie Incognito, and Shady McCoy is a freaking beast who has enough shake to open his own smoothie king! The Bills are game planning better, and running the ball more to help the young QB manage the game rather then force him to carry it with 40+ passes like Hackett used to do. Tyrod Taylor in the way he is being used is a huge upgrade at QB, and the offense is currently 10th in scoring in the NFL. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
machine gun kelly Posted December 9, 2015 Share Posted December 9, 2015 If we were even close to the defense of last year, we would be 8-4 right now. That in a nutshell is why everyone is frustrated. The offense isn't perfect, but it's better than last year, and some of the players most notably TT and Shady are reasons to be excited. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prickly Pete Posted December 9, 2015 Share Posted December 9, 2015 Defense is better IMO. Schematically our players are still learning the Ryan system. The system is working. We cut New England's point total in half. Tyrod has been a revelation. Put in Tyrod versus Cincy & Jax and we likely are 7-5 or 8-4. Thus this thread would not evem exist. If the Bills beat Philly things start to get real interesting. New England limped into Buffalo, and then lost their next 2 games in a row (so far), it's not the same team right now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ko12010 Posted December 9, 2015 Share Posted December 9, 2015 The offense is definitely better. Tyrod Taylor is much better than any of us thought he would be. The defense is definitely worse. Don't forget Aaron and Kyle Williams have been out most of the season. That is a big loss. Plus, I think the LB's over-achieved last year too. Team disciple is definitely worse. It's reflected in a ridiculous amount of penalties . Marrone ran a tight, Ryan a loose one. Bottum line is Rex has had more talent on offense and less on defense due to injury. The schedule looks favorable to make the playoffs but the Bills are just an average team folks. Speak for yourself! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quinnearlysghost88 Posted December 9, 2015 Share Posted December 9, 2015 face it. the team was 8-8 last year. the meaningless NE game wouldn't have been won if the Pats needed it. We lost a must-win in Oakland. We lost to the Texans whom we just beat. You should be focusing on the fact that we were barely hanging on last year with 50 sacks. That's !@#$ing pitiful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bleeding Bills Blue Posted December 9, 2015 Share Posted December 9, 2015 The defense in being bad this season has nothing to do with the players still learning Rex Ryans scheme! What defense on earth is so complicated that veteran players can't grasp it or understand it by week thirteen? The very simple truth is Ryan is asking them to do things that doesn't fit what they do best. He has been running a passive cover, gap control scheme which a big departure from what he ran with the Jets! Plus, he isn't rotating the defensive line players as much as Schwartz did last year in keeping them fresh in the fourth quarter. Then he isn't blitzing nearly as much as he has done in the past with his jet teams, nor as much as Pettine or Schwartz did the last two years. Sacks go hand in hand with defensive hits, hurries, and pressure on the QB. This years scheme is currently 27th in hurries, 29th in sacks, 30th in sacks percentage. Ryan has three all pro D linemen from last year plus Jerry Hughes, and he is positioning them differently then Schwartz did, and utilizing them differently. The Bills are currently 20th in total defense, and 23rd against the pass. He wants to stop the run. That is very clear. He was able to blitz NE because they don't have good running backs or deep threats. No need for a center fielder. Stopping the run keeps them in longer conversions - longer conversions mean holding the ball. holding the ball means sacks. The problem now is the backup linebackers and safeties are playing a lot more, and they are giving up those extra few yards. Injuries on the line mean less rotation means more gassed linemen. As for Schwartz, had a very low blitz% The wide 9 allows them to just get after it, especially in games where were crushing the opponent. We got a ton of sacks against bad qbs. We had i think 11 or 12 sacks and 7 of our turnovers on the geno/vick dumpster fire that rex was left with in NY last year. Throw in some of our garbage time stuff against NE and it can look less dominant stat wise. looking at the games we lost last year - SD - Rivers picked us apart with precision quick passes - which happened a bunch of times this year as well. Houston - EJ Manuel game - we probably should have won (we have 1 of those this year as well) NE - Brady destroyed us with precision quick passes again KC - 127 yards rushing allowed (Bryce brown fumble game - we had 6 sacks but lost the turnover battle) Miami - 5 sacks - yet they scored the last 19 points in what i remember thinking that tannehill might be good. Oh and 125 yards rushing allowed Denver - 133 yards rushing allowed and 3 tds - 0 sacks in that one Oak- 140 yards rushing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YoloinOhio Posted December 9, 2015 Share Posted December 9, 2015 (edited) He wants to stop the run. That is very clear. He was able to blitz NE because they don't have good running backs or deep threats. No need for a center fielder. Stopping the run keeps them in longer conversions - longer conversions mean holding the ball. holding the ball means sacks. The problem now is the backup linebackers and safeties are playing a lot more, and they are giving up those extra few yards. Injuries on the line mean less rotation means more gassed linemen. As for Schwartz, had a very low blitz% The wide 9 allows them to just get after it, especially in games where were crushing the opponent. We got a ton of sacks against bad qbs. We had i think 11 or 12 sacks and 7 of our turnovers on the geno/vick dumpster fire that rex was left with in NY last year. Throw in some of our garbage time stuff against NE and it can look less dominant stat wise. looking at the games we lost last year - SD - Rivers picked us apart with precision quick passes - which happened a bunch of times this year as well. Houston - EJ Manuel game - we probably should have won (we have 1 of those this year as well) NE - Brady destroyed us with precision quick passes again KC - 127 yards rushing allowed (Bryce brown fumble game - we had 6 sacks but lost the turnover battle) Miami - 5 sacks - yet they scored the last 19 points in what i remember thinking that tannehill might be good. Oh and 125 yards rushing allowed Denver - 133 yards rushing allowed and 3 tds - 0 sacks in that one Oak- 140 yards rushing it is revisionist history how people glorify last year's D. They were stat kings and had a few really good performances, but in the afc games they needed to win for playoff contention they fell apart. Edited December 9, 2015 by YoloinOhio Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Fong Posted December 9, 2015 Share Posted December 9, 2015 If we could somehow put last year's defense together with this year's offense they'd be contenders. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bleeding Bills Blue Posted December 9, 2015 Share Posted December 9, 2015 it is revisionist history how people glorify last year's D. They were stat kings and had a few really good performances, but in the afc games they needed to win for playoff contention they fell apart. and in the games we lost - the wide 9 was exposed by fast shifty backs who expose the gaps it creates - or accurate QBs who get the ball out quickly and exploit the predictability of it (man coverage a lot of the time - really easy to read if its 1 or 2 high safeties - linebackers line up with who theyre covering). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1st Ammendment NoMas Posted December 9, 2015 Share Posted December 9, 2015 The biggest difference I can see from the couch is that we don't play that Wide Nine scheme on the Dline this year. Mario and Hughes were way out on the ends and it forced the offensive tackles to rotate out more. In effect "bending" the line as Schwartz called it, so that there was more space in between the guards and the tackles on both sides. Dareus and Kyle took advantage of the gaps created by the wide nine, as they're both so good at that first step and slicing through the holes and disrupting. That to me seems to be the difference. Searcy and Spikes are gone, but we've added a stud corner in Darby who is playing at least as well as Leodis did last year. Gilmore even better. I can't help but think the Wide Nine would take better advantage of our front four, even with Kyle gone. my thoughts exactly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts